In the month known for Black Friday sales events, the industry overall finished up 5 percent in November compared to the same month in 2013. The percentage growth, which was coupled with a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 17.2 million, was highlighted by a 20 percent increase for Chrysler Group, marking another month of double-digit growth for the automaker on pace to increase sales by 14 percent in 2014.
The Chrysler, Jeep, RAM brands were instrumental in the automaker’s strong November, with sales growth of 30, 27 and 31 percent, respectively. Chief Detroit rivals Ford and General Motors were on opposite sides of the spectrum, with the former slipping 3 percent and the latter gaining a solid 6 percent. Ford’s dip comes despite the Lincoln brand’s continued growth – 21 percent last month – while GM was aided by GMC truck and Buick sales – 23 and 27 percent, respectively.
Nissan, which has had a strong showing all year and is on pace for 12 percent sales growth, actually slipped 3 percent in November. Meanwhile, their main Japanese rivals – Honda and Toyota – showed gains of 5 and 3 percent, respectively.
On the German side, BMW and Mercedes-Benz had 2 percent in common last month, albeit with different colors on the spreadsheet. BMW was in the red by that percentage, while Mercedes-Benz was in the black. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen Group had another solid month, with 10 percent growth, thanks to another positive showing from the VW brand (up 3 percent) and another strong Audi month (22 percent).
The South Korean Hyundai Group saw modest loses in November, with the higher-volume Hyundai division dipping 4 percent. The Kia brand barely slipped, down just 1 percent.
Subaru had another notable showing, up 24 percent and setting an all-time November sales record. The company is on pace to finish 2014 up 21 percent and surpass the 500,000 unit sales mark in the U.S.
In spite of a low volume compared to bigger competitors – only 71,098 sold to date in 2014 — Mitsubishi is enjoying a mini-revival of sorts. The automaker was up 8 percent last month and a is on pace for a very strong 27 percent sales growth for the year.
